Take Them to Freedom
by Runnow11
Summary: NEW TITLE! Her voice carried through out the Glade as if she had the strength of a thousand men, "My name is Ebony," She boomed, "I'm here to save you." Ebony is different, as far as WICKED knows, she is a loyal subject, committed to the cause. What they never knew was she is working undercover for Right Arm and she is determined to save the Gladers. Please R and R!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi everyone, I hope you like this story, it's going to have a bit of little different path than the actual series, but some things will tie into eachother. Hope you enjoy, and please review, it gives me motivation, even criticism is good! **

It alarmed Newt slightly when the Box didn't show up that first day, but he didn't mention it to Alby because the poor Shank had so much on his plate already. After one more day of no Greenie, Newt spoke up.

"Alby, have you noticed we haven't gotten our bloody Greenie this month."

Alby hummed a response, but didn't even look up from his sandwich.

"I don't mean to bother you, but shouldn't we be worried?"

As if it had been planned out before, just then the Greenie alarm began to blare through out the glade.

"Guess that's our answer then." Alby mumbled, raising from his seat and lumbering out of the kitchen. A cluster of boys had already begun to form around the Box, and Newt sighed at the thought of having to start all over again with another newbie. The two pushed their way through the crowd and waited for the box to come to a halt.

It was the middle of the day and the unforgiving sun was beating down on them as the curious Gladers anxiously awaited the Newbie.

Newt knew what would happen, the greenie would come out blubbering and spouting off questions that Alby would just deflect. It would take a while, but he would fall into their routine and eventually they would accept him as an honest to goodness Glader.

"Get 'im out for me, will ya?" Alby asked when the Box screeched to a stop. Newt sighed, but jumped in the Box willingly, knowing better than to test Alby's patience.

At first, he thought that maybe there wasn't even a Greenie at all. One step forward answered his question, because the toe of his worn out sneakers made contact with something soft.

Newt's mouth fell agape as his eye rested on the object at his feet. Below him laid a small girl, blonde hair was strewn across her motionless face, covering her features.

"What the shuck is going on?" Alby called from above.

"It- it's a girl." Newt stammered.

Gasps echoed through out the walls, but no one spoke. Newt squinted up at the boys who eagerly leaned in closer, hungry for the sight of a girl.

"Bring 'er up." Alby ordered after some hesitaton, clearly just as confused as the blonde boy.

"Don't think she's awake." Newt stated, trying to sound calm.

"… Just bring her up."

Newt wanted to protest, but instead he nodded and gathered the crumpled girl into his arms. Her head lolled to the side revealing a pale face and sunken eyes, covered in cuts and bruises. She looked as though she had gone through a war zone and just barely survived. Her features were soft and comely, so serene and peaceful. She looked like a fallen angel.

Newt hoisted the girl out of the box, she weighed no more than the sacks of manure they carried to the gardens every morning. He placed her on the soft grass at Ably's feet, and knelt down at her side, taking a better look at her injuries.

"What should we do with her?"

"Med-Jacks!" Alby called, ignoring the question. The two appointed doctors of the Glade rushed over at Alby's command, and knelt in front of the girl. Jeff leaned over to take her pulse, placing took fingers just below her chin.

Just as sudden as the alarm had rung, her eyes snapped open, revealing two brilliant green hues.

The Med-Jack jumped back slightly, letting out a childish yelp. It was only a matter of seconds before the Greenie would start gurgling with salty tears and clawing her mind for any scrap of memory, so Newt decided to step in and shut her down. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and flashed a warm smile, "Hey, stay calm, we aren't here to hurt you. Can you tell me your name?"

But that was just it, she wasn't freaking out, she didn't even have a look of confusion in her eye. She pushed Newt's hand off of her and rose to her feet. At full height, she couldn't have been more than 5'5, maybe 115 pounds, 16 years old at most and practically all legs. It seemed as though a light tap could shatter her to a million pieces.

Instead of looking around in wonder at the towering walls or 40 some-odd teenage boys, her eyes focused on the two leaders. Her voice carried through out the Glade as if she had the strength of a thousand men, as if she was the leader and Alby and Newt were just filling in while she was gone. "My name is Ebony," She boomed, "I'm here to save you."

Then her knees buckled and her world turned black.


	2. Chapter 2

Alby couldn't take the suspense.

Before she passed out, the frail girl had told them, with the voice of a lion, that she was their savior, and then she crumpled to the ground like paper.

No Greenie had ever made such a scene; no Greenie had ever come out self-assured. When Newt came, he was calm, when Minho and Gally came, they tried to make a run for it, and the rest had come out crying. This girl came out as if she knew exactly why she was there.

Alby sat, hands folded in lap, studying the detail in his shoes as he waited for Jeff and Clint's report.

"Hey," A voice sounded down the hall. Alby turned to see Minho and Newt walking up to him. "Newt filled me in on what happened, that's the weirdest shucking thing I've ever heard."

Alby shrugged, "Weirdest thing I've ever seen."

"It's like the girl new what was what more than we did." Newt added, "Strongest Greenie I've ever seen."

She knew they expected her to be confused, to have no recollection of who she was or why she was in the Glade.

They were wrong though, she remembered everything WICKED had lied about, and everything Right Arm had taught her. WICKED tried to make her into Rosa, subject B12. They tried to mold her into their perfect little subject, train her mind to believe they were good. She knew it was a lie, the whole time she replayed Vince's words in her head, "Stay sharp Ebony, remember the Right Arm, we are the future of humanity.

She was, and would always be, Ebony Dawne, Right arm's bug.

"She said she was here to save us." A voice said from the other side of the room.

"The chick was probably jacked, she doesn't look like she could save anything, she is like a little kitten."

She rolled her eyes, but reminded her self that she was told to expect this from the boys.

She was scrawled across a soft white bed, she wore the same loose t-shirt and camo pants she had come in, but her hair had been combed and tied back into a loose ponytail. Her combat boots had been taken off and placed gingerly at the side of her bed, and her scraggly Right Arm bandana was no where in sight. She was well aware of the 4 boys staring at her from across the room, so she decided to speak up.

"First of all," She blurted out, "My name is Ebony, not 'chick'. And second, I'm not jacked, I'm here for a reason."

Sitting up she could see the boys more clearly. On the other side of the room stood a dark skinned boy, a blonde tall boy, an Asian boy, and the one trying to take her pulse earlier that day.

She waited for a response from any of them, but they all stared, dumbfounded by the girl's words.

"So… you still have you're memory?" the Asian boy asked.

"Every bit of it." She replied confidently. "I know this is confusing to you, but I was sent here to help you guys find a way out. I'm not sure where it is, but this place has an exit, and we're supposed to find it… together."

Once again, the dumfounded look returned to their faces.

Minho couldn't help but think the girl was jacked.

She was spouting off stories about how she had a memory and she might know a way out, and all Minho could think was: _is this girl even real?_

He had never seen a girl before, how could he know they weren't evil lying maniacs?

He finally spoke up once more, "Who… sent us here?" That was all he could manage while his mind continued to process her words.

She rose from the bed slowly, and attempted to make her way over to the boys, but a wave of dizziness rolled over her, and she found herself falling to the ground once more, her small head crashing against the floorboards.

"Are you ok?" Asked Jeff after he rushed over to her side. He knew she shouldn't be standing up, she had obviously been in a pretty nasty fight, but she shoved his hands away and dragged her self into a sitting position.

"WICKED." Her breathed shallowly, she pressed on, determined to get follow Right Arm's orders and get the boys out. "These people, the ones who put you in here, send you supplies and new boys, they are trying to map out your brains to find a cure for an incurable disease."

She paused a second to prepare for the string of questions that would follow.

"Let's… let's give Ebony some rest." The leader said, standing up and motioning for the others to follow. They seemed reluctant at first, but they all knew they needed to follow his rules, to keep order in the Glade.

"Wait." The girl protested as all the boys (other than the Med-Jack) got up to leave. "I remember you guys. We grew up together. They took you away two years ago," She said, directing her brilliant green eyes towards the leader. "That's when the first Trial begun."

Alby mumbled something under his breath, but pressed forwards and swung the door open, not wanting to deal with the crazy girl and her nut job theories anymore.

"I know you." She called once more. "It's Alby, right?"

Alby closed the door. He had never told this girl his name before.

"And Newt, and… um Minho? Right? You're Jeff, that's your name. See? I know you guys.

Newt thought she had maybe just overheard Alby's name, but she didn't over hear all of their names. She knew something.

"Listen to me." She urged, "I know there is away out of here. I've been trained for this my whole life. I just need you guys to trust me. We were really close, all of us, before they took you all away. Please, just trust me."

Alby, Newt, and Minho exchanged mysterious glances, communicating solely through eye contact.

"Tell us everything you know."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: shorter chapter now but the excitement will start next chapter! Thanks to those who reviewed my story!**

When Ebony was 5, Right Arm came and found her, her sister, and her two brothers. They had been hiding out in an abandoned gym, surviving off of a broken vending machine and sleeping on punching bags. Ebony and her older sister, Robbin, were both immune to the Flare, and in exchange for protection of their non-immune brothers, they agreed to train to go undercover. They were given to WICKED at the age of 8 and 10, a little old, but WICKED remained clueless. 7 years later, they over took the guards in charge of sending up the new Glader and sent them selves up. They played rock, paper, scissors to see who had to go with the boys. Robbin picked paper both times, Ebony picked rock… both times.

Ebony explained that and much more the boys.

"Everything in your life has been a controlled experiment, its purpose is to find a cure for the flare, an extremely contagious and deadly disease that attacks your Killzone and turns you crazy. There isn't a cure, but you guys, as far as I know, are all immune. WICKED thinks that the immune children are the key to finding the cure. Right Arm is against WICKED's methods and believes that a cure is impossible, and that we shouldn't waste the lives of the immunes."

Clint entered the room cautiously and handed Ebony a glass of cold water.

"Thank you." She hummed with a tired smile.

"So you work for…" Minho trailed, searching the girls green hues for an answer

"I work for the Right Arm, a revolutionary group. I pretended to be a loyal subject until a few days ago when my sister and I infiltrated the Box and sent our selves up."

"Where's you're sister then?" Newt asked.

"That's not important right now." Ebony snapped, not wanting to get into detail about group B. She knew that would only confuse them more.

Her attention flickered to Alby, who had been very quiet, absorbing everything Ebony had said. "I… I believe you." He said finally. "You're story adds up. I think now we need to have a keeper meeting and discuss this."

"What do you mean?"

"All the keepers have to agree on believing your story." Minho told her, "I'm a keeper, and so are Alby, Newt and Jeff. So that already four of them who believe you."

Ebony gave a shy smile, but didn't feel any more assured. She had expected the boys to come willingly, but she was a fool for believing they would trust her right away.

Alby really didn't want to believe the girl.

He wanted to think that they were there for something powerful, that everyone supported. He hated the idea of them being part of some sick, twisted, hopless search for a cure.

But he did believe. Something in his brain told him that she was worthy of his trust.

He got up and motioned for the boys to follow, but this time Ebony didn't protest. Her head was pounding and her stomach rumbled. She happily let Jeff help her to her feet and lay her in bed. She scarfed down a plate of food and dozed off instantly, letting all the commotion of the day catch up to her.

She dreamed of what she had done the night before. Her sister and her stayed awake in their shared dorm, running the plan over and over again in their heads. After their rock, paper, scissors game, they snuck out of their bunk and ran off to the Box corridors.

They communicated with silent gestures and warning looks, alerting the other when there was a guard or a creaky floorboard. They were the perfect duo, and with in a matter of minutes, they had made it to the Box room.

Inside the room there was the elevator doors holding the Box behind them, two guards, and two soon to be Gladers, sedated on hospital gurneys. Ebony didn't recognize the girl, but she knew the chubby curly haired boy as Chuck. She was glad he wouldn't have to suffer through the Maze; he was to innocent for that.

Robbin's hand signal caught her gaze once more.

_Now,_ she mouthed.

Ebony shot up from her crouching position and charged through the doors, slamming into the closets guard at full speed. She regained her balance and sent a well-placed kick right to his ribs. She dodged his first punch, but intercepted his other with her cheek. She stumbled backwards, caught herself, and then charged once more, this time with more precision and strength.

After 5 or so minutes, Robbin and her had knocked out both the gaurds and removed the two children from the gurneys.

_Guess this is it, _Robbin said before they entered their respective Boxes.

_Guess so. _

_I love you Ebbie, you stay sharp in there, ok?_

_I love you to Robbin. See you on the other side._

With that her sister disappear and she was traveling full speed into the one place she was trying to save people from.


	4. Chapter 4

**So it's been a while... a really long while, sorry 'bout that. But here's the next chapter, Enjoy and reviews are always nice, even criticism :)**

Jeff didn't know how to wake a sleeping girl.

Shake her? Call her? … Kiss her?

_No, _he thought, _She'd probably kill me._

He bent down and latched onto her shoulders gently, "Ebony, wake up." Her eyes flew open, and for the second time in two days, Jeff found himself stumbling backwards from her.

Those eyes… they were so green. The rest of her face was pale and thin, her hair was stringy and matted to her head with sweat, but her eyes were brilliant and alive.

"Oh, hey." The girl groaned, rubbing her head softly. Her stomach rumbled again, and she searched the room feverishly, looking for any sign of something edible.

"Hungry?" Jeff chuckled, reading her expression. "Yeah, let's get ya some food."

She dragged herself out of bed and slid into her combat boots, not bothering with the laces. Jeff grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, he walked behind her, making sure that she wouldn't fall on her face again.

Her thin form wavered but never fell, as she made her way to the cafeteria. The moment she stepped foot in the kitchen, Jeff realized he should've prepared her for seeing all the boys, but he hadn't thought that far ahead.

Forty some-odd of them all sat, mouths agape, passionately staring at their newest Glader.

The Keepers meeting hadn't gone over to well, about half the Keepers believed she was spouting klunk, they demanded proof, and Newt and Alby didn't know how to give it to them.

As Newt watched the girl stumble her way into the kitchen, he forced himself to reason why he trusted her, but he couldn't. Maybe it was the fact that she knew their names, or the fact that she was just a little waif of a thing but had the confidence of an army. Newt believed her, he was sure of it.

"Alright, get back to it." Newt ordered once he realized the boys were staring to long. He rose from his seat and jogged over to the girl, and placed a hand on the small of her back, leading her to the serving line.

"Frypan's the best shucking cook we have, everything we eat is made by him." Newt boasted to Ebony.

"I remember you!" She exclaimed, when Frypan went to drop some eggs on her plate. "Gosh, why can't I remember your real name? It started with an R I think."

Frypan stood still as a board. He had never told anyone his name.

"Russ." He croaked, dropping the filthy spoon to the ground.

"I remember now, you always used to cook for us!" She remained unfazed, unaware of her effect on the boy.

"How'd you know that?" He demanded, letting his voice rise ever so slightly.

"Russ, er… um _Frypan_, we used to know each other. We weren't to close, but damn you were the best cook."

"C'mon Eb," Newt urged, slightly shocked by the ease of the nickname he just awarded her; it was as if he had called her that forever. "You're gunna give the man a buggin' heart attack."

He pulled her along and whispered something reassuring to the perplexed cook that Ebony couldn't catch.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak him out." Ebony mumbled apologetically.

"It's ok," Newt insisted, "Just try to keep the shucking memories to yourself. The boy's don't remember jack, they are gunna be begging for a glimpse of their past self." And he himself wanted a glimpse, but he knew it was to soon; he didn't want her to feel overwhelmed.

They plopped down at a table next to a few other Gladers, "Boys, let me formally introduce you to Ebony, our newest Glader."

The boys sang a chorus of hellos and began to introduce themselves.

"Name's Gally." The keeper of the builders informed the girl. He tried to keep drool from spilling out of his mouth as his eyes fell on Ebony's beautiful face, piercing green irises, and cascading blonde hair. If Ebony had seen herself, she might have gagged at her filthy hair and two day old stench, but to the boys she was the prettiest girl they'd ever seen. She was the only girl they'd ever seen.

Ebony remembered Gally. Gally was… well as the Gladers would say, a "Slinthead". She tired not to make her previous impression on him obvious, knowing full well that he had his memory swiped.

"Nice to meet you Gally." She managed, swallowing a bite of food. She felt Newt's questioning gaze, but brushed it aside, reminding herself to be nice.

Slowly, she turned to Newt and pursed her lips, "When am I going into the Maze?"

The table grew deathly quiet; the whole cafeteria grew deathly quiet.

"Ebony-" Newt started.

"Newt, I know the way out. I'm going in that Maze." She held his stare, refusing to back down.

Since the girl had been there, Newt thought she was the strongest most confident person he'd ever met. He knew she wouldn't step down.

"Tomorrow then? Alright?"

She smiled at her victory and continued eating her breakfast.

"Gally, why don't you go show our greenie around?" Newt offered. Ebony shot him a look, but he either didn't understand or didn't care.

"Sure." Gally shrugged. "Follow me."

Gally stood up hastily, eager to spend some time with the first girl he'd ever met. He saw by the way she dragged her feet that the feeling wasn't mutual. He decided not to push it.

"I have to give it to WICKED." She said breaking the silence as they tudged through the thick green grass of the Glade, "This place it gorgeous."

Gally opened his mouth to boast about his building, but no sound came out. He tried again with no luck.

"You ok?" Ebony asked, stopping her brisk pace and staring at the older boy.

"Ebony, I think… I think they've got my mind." He struggled.

Three words flashed into his mind

_WICKED is good _

Then he lost control.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to anyone that read, reviewed, favorited and or followed! I love getting feedback (who doesn't) Here is the next chapter... bum bum bum!**

"Gally?" She asked wearily, inching away from the boy slowly.

"Right Arm… Bug… Never shoulda trusted…" He stumbled over words and struggled under an invisible force. Finally, he managed one word.

"Run."

Ebony took off, slowly at first, watching as the boy fought his own mind. But then he looked up, with a vacant look in his eyes, and began to chase her. She poured all of her speed into her legs as she sprinted through the woods, pressing on towards the clearing. She was just about to be in the open when the huge boy tackled her from behind and pinned her to the ground.

"You aren't supposed to be here." He said calmly as he reached out and pressed his rough hands against her neck, blocking her airflow. Her hands collapsed on top of his as she clawed for air, but it was no use, he was much stronger.

After a few second she got enough strength to land a hard punch to his neck. He stumbled backwards, giving her a chance to role to the side.

"Gally! Fight them!" she wheezed

Gally wanted more than anything to take back control of his brain, but he couldn't. He couldn't break WICKED's grasp on his mind. His fist sailed towards the girls face, but she managed to dodge it and send a blow to his stomach.

He wanted to scream _Don't fight me! Get help _but his mouth was sealed shut.

He shoved her to the ground and drove his foot into her ribs. She rolled to the side before her could do it again and crawled off behind a tree.

"Filthy Right Arm." They mumbled under Gally's breath.

Ebony clutched her side and let one tear slip from her eye. She had been taught to dismiss pain, to make it an after thought. She wiped the tear and peered around the left side. The mindless body spotted her head and came barreling towards her tree. He reached her before she had the chance to get up, and clutched onto her shoulders tightly. He shook her rapidly, and drove his foot into her shin. She cried out, but pulled her self together and twisted free.

A thought ran through her head, _If they want a fight, I'll give them a fight, _but she couldn't do that to Gally. Fist of all, he was much larger then her, and Ebony knew which battles she would loose, second of all, Gally wasn't _that_ bad, she wouldn't want to hurt him.

That left one option.

_Run._

And so she ran, as fast as she could, as far as she could. She ignored her aching head and throbbing rib cage. She just ran.

Gally was so happy to see her running that he would've laughed if he could. She was a bit faster than him and so he couldn't catch her at his top speed.

She ripped through the Glade, screaming bloody murder and alarming all of the Gladers. All Gally could do was concentrate on breaking WICKED's bond with his head.

Useless.

Minho hadn't gone out running that day on account of their keepers meeting. Lucky for Ebony, he was there to save the day.

He was shocked to see the newest Glader ripping through the fields faster than he could've ever run. He wasn't shocked to find that Gally was her pursuer. That shank had always been a problem.

Minho jumped to his feet and took off after the two, rousing a crowd of Gladers to help. He caught up to Gally with ease and pounced on his back, taking him to the ground.

"WHAT THE SHUCK?!" He demanded, pinning the large boy to the grass. "What the shuck is your problem you slinthead!"

"Filthy Right Arm." Gally spat. Alby and Newt had now shown up, and they took over the integration of the Glader, a few other boy began pulling Minho off and held the Keeper of the builders back by his arms.

Minho brushed them off and caught sight of Ebony, a few feet away, clearly in pain. He pushed through the small crowd of concerned Gladers that had formed around her.

"Get some med-jacks!" He yelled, searching around desperately. Sweat began dripping down his forehead, and he was struck with the realization that he was extremely concerned for her wellbeing. "Ebony?" He asked in a weary tone.

She collapsed to the ground, digging her nails into the dirt in a sad attempt to keep herself connected to reality.

"Hey," Minho soothed, dropping his usual snarky manner, "It's gunna be ok." He dropped down to his knees and placed his hand on her back, gently turning her over so she was laying on her back.

"He puts up a good fight," She chuckled softly, wincing at the gradual movements.

"Hey, how bout you stay still, and we get you over to the Homestead?"

She couldn't help but laugh softly again, sending another rift of pain through out her body. "Yeah sounds good."

Very carefully, Minho helped her to her feet; he didn't bother looking at the commotion behind him, knowing full well that Newt and Alby had it covered. He placed a hand around her waist and pulled her close to him, making sure that he was holding the majority of her weight.

The pair hobbled over the homestead, where med-jacks (who had been watching the recent events go down) where waiting to take the small girl. Minho unloaded her minuscule weight onto Jeff, but felt pang of emptiness echo through his bones once her heat was gone. He watch carefully as they took her into the medical room she was in the night before and began to work on mending her injuries.

"What'd you get out of Gally," Minho asked as Newt walked up to him. He was passing his time by witling sticks outside of the Homestead.

"He said WICKED had taken control of him, like he could see but couldn't move for himself."

"And what do you think about that?"

Newt didn't know what to think, on one hand, he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to hurt Ebony on purpose, and yet Gally was a total Slinthead.

"Don't know." Newt sighed, "I'm going to talk to Ebony right know, maybe she can give some insight."

"Newt," Minho called, "He could've killed her. We can't just let that go."

"I know."

"_I won't_ let that go."

Newt shoved the door open, revealing the tiny blonde girl lying on the bed, twirling her fingers through her hair lazily.

"Hey Newt," She yawned.

Newt sat down with a stern look on his face, "Eb… I need to know more about what happened today."

Suddenly she sat up, cringing slightly, "Newt it wasn't him, he wasn't in his right mind."

"Woah, woah, calm down. I know Gally can be a bit of a jerk, I think he might've been his right min-"

"No Newt, you don't understand, WICKED can control all of you minds, there is this chip and… that's not important. Just know that what Gally did was entirely against his will."

Newt's face went white, "They can control our minds?"

"Newt, they control everything."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and/ or Fav/followed. I love any form of support, and it means a lot to mean. A special thanks to StarRunner1 for the continued advice and support. Enjoy this next chapter and tell me what you think:**

To be honest, it hadn't occurred to Newt that Ebony would be lying about anything. He trusted her completely, and maybe that wasn't a good thing. He didn't understand what the Gladers were supposed to do about WICKED controlling their minds, how could they avoid something like that?

It was terrifying, the way that Gally had chased after Ebony with so much determination, completely against his will.

"You could've mentioned something to us about that sooner." Newt said to Ebony, after she told him about the mind control.

"What were you all supposed to do? Chain each other up each day so that no one looses their mind?"

"We could've taken bloody precautions!"

"No, you couldn't have." She snapped, "The device is call the swipe, I don't know much about it, but I think it holds back your memories."

"And it controls our shucking brains!"

He was getting angry and confused; he sat down at the foot over her bed and placed his head in his hands.

She sat up slightly, and scooted over closer to her friend.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It was stupid. But there isn't anything we can do. WICKED is horrible, and it is willing to do anything it can to finish it's experiments."

He looked over at her, trying to give a reassuring smile. He understood how much pressure she was under, but right then he was sure he could handle all the madness she had brought to their once orderly Glade.

They had kept peace for three years, and the second she shows up, Gladers are loosing control of themselves. They didn't have the Creators taking control of their minds and forcing them to attack one another.

Life in the Glade would… well; it'd be easier if she hadn't shown up.

"Try to get some rest," he sighed, "I need to go talk to Alby."

After a bit of arguing with Alby, they decided to have another Keeper's meeting… again, to clarify some details. Gally was allowed to attend this meeting, because his fate was going to be decided, along with Ebony's.

"Alright then!" Alby yelled, hushing the noisy Keepers. "The meeting of the Keepers has now begun. Our first item of business is to discus Gally, the Keeper of the builders, fate."

Gally stood up, and gave Alby a questioning glance.

"Go ahead," Alby mumbled.

"I know I don't have the best reputation, but no one is cruel enough to purposely put our newest Greenie in danger. I wasn't in control of my body or my brain. I think Ebony is great, and I would never try to hurt her."

He took a deep breath and sat down, looking at the others expectantly.

"I say we banish the slinthead." Minho muttered under his breath.

"No one asked you, you piece of Klunk! It was an accident!" Gally yelled, catching Minho's words.

"Fine shuckface," the Keeper of the runners yelled, raising from his seat, "then a week in the slammer!"

Roars erupted through out the shack, keepers hollering support for either side.

"ENOUGH!" Alby boomed, "I would agree that a week is a little excessive, Gally is clearly upset for what he did, and that shank didn't get off with out a little punishment already," The leader motioned to Gallys deep purple skin on his neck, placed there by Ebony's fist. "I propose that he is kept under close watch and given two nights in the slammer."

A series of agreements rang out, and there were no voiced disagreements. "Craig and Frank," he motioned to two Gally's fellow builders, "You will keep watch over your keeper."

"Good that," the pair muttered.

"Alright, that settles it then. The next question is, what should we do about our newest Glader. At the previous meeting we did agree to trust what she said, but no Greenie has ever been allowed in the Maze in the first week of coming up."

Zart, Keeper of the trackhoes, rose from his chair, "I like Ebony, but she hasn't gone through any of the regular Greenie process. She needs to pull her weight just like everyone else."

Other keepers hummed an agreement.

Newt, who had been rather quiet through out the meeting, stood up with a thoughtful expression. "Ebony is like no other Greenbean we've had before. The other Newbie's came out having buggin' heart attacks, but she was more confident than us leaders. She knows what she is doing, so I say… why stay in this shuckhole any longer? This girl can get us out. We should let her be a runner."

"I second that." Minho said, "I'd be happy to take her out an show her the ropes."

"Anyone oppose that?" Alby asked, and no one spoke up. "Good that, looks like Miss Ebony's a runner now, she'll be going on her first run when her injuries have healed. This meeting is over."

The keepers got up and left, chatting about various things and preparing to get back to work. "Newt," Alby called, grabbing the tall boy's shoulder, "Go tell Ebony the news, I'm sure she'll be excited."

It took Newt a few minutes to find the girl. She was sitting beneath a tree in the dead heads scratching doodles into the soft dirt.

"Hey." Newt said.

"Oh, hey Newt. How'd the meeting go?"

"Well… you're a runner now."

"Really?" She asked, jumping up to her feet. Her face cracked a wide, excited grin.

"Yep!"

She ran to Newt and wrapped her arms around his neck, encasing him in a warm hug. He bent down a great deal to be at her level, and eventually returned the hug by wrapping his arms around her waist.

She pulled away and regained her cool, "Thank you. Really… it means a lot."

"You just focus on getting us out now, alright? And it wasn't all me, Minho seconded it."

"Well thank you both. Looks like I can complete my mission now."

Newt looked up to the trees, scanning their deep green leaves. "You ever climbed one?" He asked.

She backed away a bit, shaking her head. "I-I'm not much of a climber."

"That's a bloody lie," He chuckled, "You're good at everything."

She shook her head again. The grateful look in her eye had been replaced by something else, something like… fear.

"Hey, hey, it's not a big deal, I just thought you'd be into something adventurous like that . Don't worry about it."

She sighed, plopping down under the tree, "Being honest… I'm afraid of heights."

"No, you're lying." He didn't think that Ebony would have such a silly fear, but looking at her, he didn't see any sign that she was joking. Newt sat down next to her, looking into her green eyes, "do you mind me asking why?"

"No idea, I just am. Always have been. Ever since I was little, I've had such a hard time being in high places, even just like 15 feet in the air."

"I'm sorry Eb. Was it hard with your training and all?"

"No, but there were a few times where my fear almost got to me. I've been lucky so far, but I know I'm going to have to overcome it."

They sat there in silence for a bit, just breathing in the dusk air. It was nice to just have some time to think, some time to be away from all the crazy.

After a few minutes Ebony broke the silence with a small chuckle, "I may be a lot of things, stubborn to the point where it's annoying, I'm always underestimating people, and I trust just about no one. But almost all rebel soldiers are like that. Have you ever met a rebel soldier that's scared of heights?"

"Can't say I've ever met any soldier before you."

"Well I haven't and I've trained with hundreds of them for the past 10 years. Right Arm always taught us that pain was just a mindset, they taught us how easy it was to over come. But they never taught us how to get over fear. They just assumed we wouldn't have it."

He thought about that for a second, finally coming up with the appropriate response, "Having fears doesn't make you weaker. We all have some demons," he said, thinking about his limp, "but they only make us weak if we let them. Fear is natural, strength comes from accepting it and pushing on."

"You're pretty smart for a blonde."

"You too."

He couldn't help but flash a huge smile, dropping his head while he let himself laugh. At that moment, he felt terribly guilty for even having the smallest notion that life would be easier with out her.

"Get some sleep Eb… you're a runner now." He patted her shoulder and stood up offering a hand.

"Hey Newt," she said, after they had left the deadheads, "Thank you… f-for everything."


End file.
